Bus Route Planning Programme for Southern District 2019-20 Purpose This paper elaborates and seeks the views of Members on the Bus Route Planning Programme (BRPP) for Southern District 2019-20. BRPP for 2019-20 2. A draft BRPP for 2019-20 has been devised. The table attached provides a summary of the proposals and Annexes 1 to 4 set out the details. BRPP planning considerations 3. The Chief Executive has indicated in the Policy Addresses since 2013 that the Government will continue to develop a transportation system centred on public transport with railway as the backbone, in order to alleviate road congestion and roadside emissions. With the commissioning of four new railways in the past few years and new railways to be completed in the next few years, the Government will make further efforts to optimise the public transport system and pursue bus route rationalisation vigorously in order to enhance network efficiency, improve service quality, rationalise the functions and roles of various public transport modes, and strengthen the complementarity amongst different services. The aim is to ensure that the public can enjoy efficient services with reasonable modal choices on the one hand, and the sustainability of different services can be maintained on the other. As regards the proposed public transport re-organisation plans to tie in with the commissioning of the Shatin to Central Link (Tai Wai to Hung Hom Section), they will be set out in another discussion paper to be submitted later to seek Members’ views. 4. The Transport Department (“TD”) will continue to develop the bus route network in accordance with the following long term public transport strategies: (1) Public transport planning revolving around a railway-based network complemented by bus services We will have comprehensive and long-term planning for public transport, which is closely related to people's livelihood, economic development and environmental protection. Our railway network is the backbone of Hong Kong's passenger transport system. Its patronage accounts for about 40% of all public transport passenger trips per day. The development of rail transport not only can significantly speed up passenger flow, but also alleviate road traffic congestion and reduce vehicle-induced air pollution. The development potential of areas along the railway lines can also be unleashed to facilitate economic development. Therefore, our long-term planning for public transport will continue to revolve around a railway-based network complemented by bus services. In the past few years, new railways have been completed in Hong Kong one after another. Passengers can interchange between various railway lines, making travelling between the Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories more convenient. We will continue to promote maximum utilisation of railways supplemented by feeder services of other public transport modes. Among the public transport modes, franchised buses have higher capacity and can adjust their service patterns to meet changes in demand within a relatively short period of time. Hence, franchised bus services will continue to play an important role in our public transport system and provide feeder service connecting the railway stations and inter-district service, particularly for areas without direct railway access. We will also continue to encourage franchised bus companies to improve the quality of their services. As for the remaining public transport modes, they will continue to play a complementary role to railways and franchised bus services in the transport system as a whole. (2) Striking a balance between meeting public demand for bus services and alleviating road traffic and environmental impacts Clean air and good traffic conditions are valuable assets of our society. With limited road space but large number of vehicles and pedestrians in Hong Kong, the public is very concerned about road traffic conditions and the impact of traffic on the environment. To enable sustainable development of Hong Kong, we will rationalise bus services by cancellation of routes with low utilisation, frequency reduction and route truncation to better utilise bus resources, having regard to the changes in passenger demand and the commissioning of new transport infrastructure. While rationalising bus routes, franchised bus companies will also consider providing bus-bus interchange schemes as supporting measures. Meanwhile, we will formulate appropriate bus service plan for new development areas to meet the anticipated need of residents for bus services. (3) Bus route rationalisation plans associated with new railway services In view of the continued expansion of the railway network, we will further improve the public transport network, carry out effective intermodal coordination, rationalise relevant public transport services to meet demand, and minimise unhealthy competition and route duplication. The completion of a number of new railways in the forthcoming years will provide opportunities to implement bus route rationalisation on a substantial scale to alleviate road congestion, maintain an efficient public transport system and reduce roadside air pollution. Guidelines on Service Improvement and Reduction 5. The TD and franchised bus companies will make reference to the guidelines as set out in paragraphs 6 to 15 below in the formulation of BRPP. Service Enhancement 6. Basically, major developed areas in the territory are served with at least one bus 2 route and other supplementary transport modes (such as green minibus). To tie in with demographic changes, we will increase bus frequency in accordance with the existing patronage and passenger demand for bus service or introduce new bus services as appropriate. (1) Frequency Improvement 7. If the occupancy rate of any bus route reaches 100% and 85% during any busiest half-hour of the peak period and during that one hour respectively, or reaches 60% during the busiest one hour of the off-peak period, consideration will be given to the deployment of more vehicles to improve the service level. In increasing the vehicle allocation, priority will be given to redeploying vehicles saved from other rationalisation measures. (2) Introduction of New Bus Services 8. If the adjustment described in paragraph 7 above is insufficient to meet demand and no practical alternatives are available, we will give consideration to the provision of new services, with priority to serve areas that are beyond the catchment area of railways or railway feeders. In approving any new bus services, we will consider the impact of such services on the traffic conditions of major roads, and try our best to avoid introducing long haul bus routes or routes that operate via busy districts such as Mong Kok, Tsim Sha Tsui, Central, Wanchai and Causeway Bay. 9. To improve the environment, enhance the efficiency of bus operation and alleviate traffic congestion, it has been the TD’s on-going objective to reduce the number of bus trips along busy corridors and bus stoppings (through route cancellation, amalgamation and truncation, and frequency reduction). If it is inevitable for the new routes or the enhanced services of existing routes to operate via the busy districts, the bus operators will have to reduce the same number of trips plying through the same districts from other routes. (3) Development of Bus-bus Interchange Schemes 10. We have been working with franchised bus companies to formulate bus-bus interchange schemes at appropriate and feasible locations to enable bus passengers to reach more destinations through interchanging with fare concessions. Such interchange schemes reduce the need for new long haul and direct point-to-point bus service, enable better utilisation of limited road space and bus resources, enhance the efficiency of the overall bus network, and lessen the traffic congestion and environmental problems caused by duplication of bus services. (4) Improvement of Service Quality 11. In order to improve service quality and meet passenger demand, franchised bus companies have included air-conditioning system, Octopus card payment system, low-floor entrance/exit, environmentally friendly engine and 2x2 seating as standard facilities on their new buses. 3 Service Reduction 12. For bus routes with low utilisation, we will implement different measures to enhance their efficiency subject to their actual performance. Such measures may include adjusting the routeing, headway and service hour, reducing the number of stops, or truncation, amalgamation and cancellation of routes as appropriate. (1) Frequency Reduction 13. If the average occupancy rate of an individual route is below 85% during the busiest half-hour of the peak period, or below 30% during the off-peak period, consideration will be given to reducing service frequency. However, railway feeder routes, socially essential routes, and routes with peak headway at 15 minutes or more and off-peak headway at 30 minutes or more will be considered on individual merits. In that case, single deck buses may be deployed to replace double deck buses for better utilisation of bus resources and enhancement of the overall efficiency of bus network. (2) Route Cancellation / Amalgamation 14. If the utilisation of a low-frequency route does not improve (i.e. a bus route with the highest occupancy rate lower than 50%, despite its headways having already been reduced to 15 minutes and 30 minutes during peak hours and off-peak hours respectively), we will consider proposing to cancel the route or amalgamate